Sherlock Girl
by SarianaJ
Summary: The story of Sophia Midnight, one of my many OCs. This is how she first appeared in London and how she went from a picked-on schoolgirl to a (admittedly rather young) consulting detective. Enjoy! Okay, disclaimer here. I own Sophia only. All recognisable characters belong to the BBC etc. the other OCs that will turn up belong to a few friends on dA.
1. Chapter 1

Sherlock Girl

She first met Moriarty on a school trip to London for a competition. It had been decided that they were old enough to look after themselves, so they had been allowed to explore in small groups. As the group of friends wandered around shopping they met a man asking riddles, looking for answers. Most people just walked past, but the interested group of girls made an attempt.

The group answered all of the riddles correctly, after which he started asking what school the group of friends went to. He said that it had to be a good one if they could answer those riddles, claiming many others had failed to do so. They had told him and walked away and completely forgetting about it, until he turned up at the school a week later.

He came offering them a trip to London to see the city properly. Most declined, they had party plans for the weekend. The headmistress told them the school would pay for it so one girl accepted. Not invited to the party her friends had planned, also giving her an excuse to escape her father for the weekend.

When she got to London one of the first stops was a building that had been all over the news over a year ago.

The one which had cost Sherlock his life.

She started to panic then. He had figured out who she was, what she could do. She worked out what was coming.

She casually took a look around and saw Dr Watson standing outside the building opposite. He looked dazed, like he was remembering something. As she was pulled closer to the building he came out of his daze, his eyes narrowing with hatred as he saw Moriarty. His eyes widened as he saw the young girl.

Then he worked out what was about to happen.  
As she was pushed through the side door of the building she noticed him moving. The sound of footsteps climbing rapidly up the stairs drowned out the sound of the doctor picking the lock on the back door.

She turned to ask Moriarty why they were here, then she saw the gun he was pointing at her.  
"I think you know what happens next." he said. He was perfectly calm, that was not a good sign.  
"I can make a pretty good guess." she replied, backing away from him as far as she could. Right to the edge of the building.

She started to panic, it didn't go unnoticed either. He smiled, turning it into a dark chuckle.  
"Looking for a saviour." he stood confident, watching as she desperately scanned the edge of the building.  
She gave him a smug smile in return, trying to mask her fear.  
"What makes you think I need one." she replied as confidently as she could, hoping her voice didn't give it away.

She cursed herself as she realised who she was speaking to.  
"Your body language. You keep running your thumb along the palm of your hand, as if there should be something there. Several rings judging by the faint impressions they left. A nervous habit, you were doing it in the taxi too." Moriarty stood looking triumphant and her panic returned.

He waved the gun nonchalantly in her direction, nodding towards the edge of the building. She took another step away from him, realising her mistake a moment too late.

Then she was falling.

She tried to grab a window ledge or brick that was sticking out, anything to stop her falling. Her fingers just ran over the bricks until she got to a window two floors from the ground. A hand caught hers and she hit the side of the building. She didn't have time to register the pain coming from her shoulder as she was pulled in through the window.

She sank to the floor once she was safely inside the building, trying to stop shaking.

Once she had stopped shaking she looked up to see Dr Watson watching her closely.  
"I wondered where you went. I looked for you when I got onto the roof but you'd vanished." she muttered. He sat down on the floor beside her, realising she wasn't going to move any time soon. She pretended not to notice the doctor's hiss of pain.  
"I guessed what he was about to do so I let myself in where he wouldn't see me. Then I waited for you to fall."  
"How did you.." The young girl trailed off, remembering that he would be able to deduce too. She turned with a sheepish grin on her face.  
"Moriarty that predictable huh." she muttered. He nodded.

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes revealing his curiosity.  
"I'm not a Holmes, but you already deduced that."  
He shrugged his shoulders. "You don't stand as confident as a Holmes does. Besides, you don't seem to have the feline eye colour or height that runs in the Holmes family." She glared at him, so he continued. "Bringing me to my next question, why are you even here?"

She sighed, John couldn't tell whether she was irritated by the question or not.  
"Me and my friends answered some riddles for him when we came on a school trip to London. He followed me to my school and invited me and my friends on a fully paid sightseeing holiday in London. My friends had a party planned so they declined, I was free so I came." She paused briefly, wondering what they were doing now...  
"When we got here I realised who he was and why I was here." she looked momentarily sheepish, before the calm mask was back in place. "I had already worked out who he was, I worked that out after he first offered the trip. Part of me just didn't believe it."

The doctor shook his head, not really believing it himself. He had seen Moriarty himself, lying stone cold dead. His logic told him that if Moriarty had survived then so could Sherlock, but he knew Sherlock was dead.

It didn't stop him wanting his logic to be right though, it didn't stop hope forming inside him.

The young girl tried to stand up, failing as her arm buckled under the strain. John had noticed and she knew it, so she didn't complain and held her arm out for inspection.

The doctor smiled, shaking his head. He already knew what damage had been done, her arm would be broken. She had hit the building hard when he caught her, probably hard enough to damage a few ribs too. She was lucky that her arm hadn't come out of its socket.

Her eyebrows raised critically, he gave her a knowing look, confirming her theory.  
"How am I going to explain this to everyone on Tuesday?" she muttered to herself.  
"By getting there without being killed by Moriarty." John answered, making her smile.

"How am I supposed to do that? Everything was arranged by the school, he'll know about the hotel I'm staying in." her smile had vanished, replaced by panic.  
"We'll see about that in a minute. Is your luggage already there?" She nodded. "We'll go to the hotel then, I think I know where you'll be safe for the next few days."

John pulled the girl to her feet and walked down the stairs, her shoes clicking on the stairs behind him.

She smiled again as he pulled the door closed behind them and hailed a taxi. One pulled up immediately and he opened the door for her. She climbed in and he followed, ignoring her flinch as he sat beside her.  
"Where's this safe place then?" she asked once she had told the taxi driver their destination. John considered for a moment before answering, the devious grin on his face quickly covered.  
"You'll see." he replied.

The rest of the journey was filled with idle chatter, random deductions they made about the people on the busy streets of London. The pick-pocket who had been so busy taking someone's wallet that he hadn't noticed someone taking his own had made the young girl giggle for several minutes. John muttered something about the scene "showing that crime doesn't pay".

There were police cars outside when they got to the hotel, John forced himself to suppress a groan. The girl climbed out of the taxi and asked him to wait, telling him they'd be back in a moment. The driver took pity on her and nodded. She thanked him and walked into the hotel, pulling a card key out of her coat pocket.

She ignored the masses of policemen milling about in the lobby and went straight for the elevator, John close behind. The door opened and she entered, pressing the button for the third floor.

She hit her hand against her head as the doors opened on the third floor. All of the officers were surrounding one room.  
"That's yours isn't it?" John asked. She could only nod in reply.  
She walked towards the room and tried to enter, only stopped by Lestrade.  
"What do you want to get in here for young lady?" he asked her, being very patronising. She opened her mouth to answer when John shook Lestrade's hand.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd left London." the detective asked, stunned.  
"I couldn't if I wanted to Greg. Baker Street has kept whatever sanity I have intact, even if it is a bit emptier now." John replied, watching as Lestrade nodded in understanding. "What are you doing here anyway?"  
"We're here because Moriarty was sighted here." Donovan answered for Lestrade.

The girl by John's side went pale.  
"I didn't believe it when the call came through, so we came to check it out." Lestrade said, looking from John's face to the young girl's.  
"What are you doing here anyway? Don't tell me you're involved." Donovan asked, noticing the colour of the girl's face.  
"He just tried to kill me." the girl mumbled, making Lestrade's eyes widen.  
"How?" Donovan asked, sounding very suspicious.  
"By pushing her off the roof of St. Bart's, where he killed Sherlock over a year ago." John answered. "I was walking past when they pulled up in a taxi, I realised what was he was going to do and I followed them, stopping high enough up to catch her without being noticed." John said, asking the question Sally was about to ask.

Donovan just stood there, processing the information she had just been given. She focused her gaze on the girl standing beside John. She was about to ask a question when Lestrade stopped her, shaking his head before turning to John again.  
"So why are you here?"  
"This is the room the school booked her for the weekend, she was supposed to be on a sightseeing tour of London, Moriarty as her guide." John replied.  
"I just wanted my stuff back. I knew I couldn't stay here without him trying to kill me again." the girl spoke up, drawing Lestrade's attention.  
"Where else would you stay?" he asked her, already knowing the answer. The girl shrugged her shoulders, but he noticed a small smile as she looked in John's direction. He turned his attention back to the doctor and he had his answer, John quickly nodding to confirm it.

"I'll get your bags then and we'll send you off. I know how to get in touch." Lestrade turned around and moved from the doorway.

He grabbed the small case lying on the bed and placed the contents back inside it, which forensics team had emptied all over the bed. There was no reason, they just wanted to make a mess as usual. He checked he had everything and zipped it up again. He walked back to the door and handed it to the girl. She nodded and took it, smiling as she unzipped it slightly and saw the stuffed toy close to the top.  
"Thanks" she said, turning her face to him fully.  
"You're welcome." he replied, feeling a smile spread across his own face.

She cast her eyes wearily over Donovan, who was still processing information. Then she turned and walked back towards the elevator, convinced Sally wasn't going to move any time soon. He put a hand on John's shoulder as he turned to follow her.  
"Keep an eye on her, we'll be at Baker Street later to talk."  
"I know you will. I never expected anything different." John replied. He pushed Lestrade's hand off his shoulder and walked towards the elevator.

Back in the taxi several minutes later John turned to girl beside him.  
"You didn't answer my question earlier"  
"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up at him from her case on the floor of the taxi.  
"You never told me who you were, you just gave me cryptic answer."  
"Oh. I'm Sophia Midnight." she replied.

John couldn't hide his laugh for long.  
"Why are you laughing?" she asked.  
"Because he was right. You were like him. He saw you in the science competition talking to the judges." John heard his signature giggle return. Sherlock had taken one look at her, listened to five words of the conversation and he knew.

He heard a loud squeak from beside him and found Sophia laughing too, emitting a loud squeak every time she breathed in.  
"That was so fun." she managed to say before laughing again.

She remembered the science competition she had been in over a year ago, she had been in several since, but this was the most memorable. She had revealed her ability to deduce at that competition, revealing the judges for the slime balls they were. She remembered her exact words. "Are you going mark me down just because I won't sleep with you!" she had screamed, loud enough for everyone to hear. As a crowd formed she had begun, rattling off her many deductions she had noticed over the day. She had pretended not to see the tall detective pause and listen to the conversation before continuing on his way, the good doctor in tow.

Ten minutes later the taxi pulled up outside 221B Baker street. Sophia got out first, paying the taxi driver before grabbing her case.

John opened the door as the taxi sped off, motioning for Sophia to stop as he heard slow shuffling footsteps. Mrs Hudson appeared seconds later, her eyebrows rising as she saw Sophia.


	2. Chapter 2

Ten minutes later everything had been explained to Mrs Hudson and the landlady had walked away smiling, leaving John to show Sophia 221B. She took a seat on the sofa and placed her small case next to her, allowing John to sit in his armchair and finally get the chance to properly study Sophia. Sophia smirked as she noticed John studying her, quite like she imagined the consulting detective used to do, but continued to survey her surroundings.

"No thanks." she answered as John offered her some tea while he was walking into the kitchen to make some. He turned his back to her to fill the kettle, managing to hide his wince as he felt pain in his shoulder, or so he thought.  
"Sit back down, your shoulder hurts." Sophia said.

He turned to her to ask how she worked that out, not even Sherlock worked that out when his back was turned. She gave no answer. She just pointed at him, then to his chair.

He flicked the kettle on and obeyed, the look on her face telling him it wasn't advised to disobey.  
She pulled herself of the sofa and walked up beside his chair.  
"What are you doing?"  
"You'll see" she replied. She leaned on the back of his armchair and put her hand on his shoulder. She pushed the heel of her hand down and moved it in slow circles. John felt the pain of his shoulder ease and he relaxed.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, not bothering to hide the surprise in his voice.

"My mum taught me when I was 8; she thought I would need it." Sophia replied. John could hear her smile in her voice, which was quickly contrasted by a short harsh laugh. "Yeah, two weeks after she taught me I needed to use it. Dad threw a punch that almost dislocated her shoulder."

Sophia stopped as she heard the kettle boil. She walked away to make his tea, leaving him thinking about what she had said. Mrs Hudson walked up the stairs while he was still in thought.

"Hello Mrs Hudson" Sophia announced from the kitchen. She walked out with a cup of tea in hand seconds later, almost bumping into the landlady.

She gave the tea to John and took the pile of pillows and blankets from Mrs Hudson.  
"I take it these are mine. Thank you Mrs Hudson."

"You're welcome dear." the landlady replied. "What's wrong with John?"

Sophia chuckled, glancing at him.  
"He's in thought." she replied. Sophia walked over to him and waved her hand in front if his face. That produced no response so she clicked he fingers by his ear. He returned from his thoughts at that, almost jumping out of the chair.

Sophia grinned at him.  
"Welcome back to the land of the living. Your tea is getting cold."  
"Thanks" John muttered. He almost spilled his tea as his phone beeped loudly in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID. Seeing it was protected, and therefore Mycroft he cancelled the call, he didn't want any contact with the older Holmes brother.

After a few moments of silence the phone burst into life again. Mycroft was calling, so John ignored it. The fifth time Mycroft phoned Sophia walked over to it and grabbed it off the table. She turned it over in her hand and picked at the edge. The back lifted off and she yanked the battery out, before replacing the back and placing John's phone back down on the table. She then placed the disconnected battery next to the phone and took his empty mug into the kitchen.

"Do you feel better now?" John asked when she returned.

"Much better, thanks for asking." she replied sarcastically.

Sophia broke the silence that descended afterwards. "Ask the question" she muttered.

"What did you mean earlier, when you talked about your parents?"  
He saw the corners of her mouth quirk, forming a rather sad smile.  
"I'm sure you know the answer to that question, but you don't really want it." she answered.

John knew she was right. Her demeanour had already shown how nervous she was; she practically flinched whenever someone approached her...  
"How bad are they?"

His question got a short harsh laugh in reply.  
"HE, not THEY. My mum ran off two years ago, complaining it would be too much hassle to take a ten year old with her. One day she just had enough of answering pointless riddles and earning bruises when she didn't..." she stopped, crushing the memories of her father returning from work to find her gone. "He got worse after she left. He comes home and drinks it away, it only makes him worse."

She looked at the doctor, watching his expressions as she spoke. She saw horror which he had tried to conceal along with confusion.

Sophia looked to the front door and John strained his ears and heard the agitated knock on the door, followed by Mrs Hudson shuffling to open it. John schooled his expression as Lestrade and Donovan walked up the stairs. Anderson could be heard greeting Mrs Hudson too, before another set of footsteps followed up the stairs.

Sophia put on a fake smile as they entered, Anderson looking round the room.  
"You won't find anything Anderson, not if Sherlock didn't want it to be found." Lestrade stated, pulling the forensics expert into the room. John tried to hide his grin, not before Sophia saw it though.

Donovan jumped as Dante the Bengal cat ran across the room, almost tripping her over. Sally watched as the cat walked slowly up to the young girl sitting on the sofa, staring at her before leaping onto her knees and purring. It turned and hissed at Donovan and the girl chuckled, tickling the cat behind the ear to make it stop.

Lestrade took the seat next to the girl, glaring at Sally, daring her to contradict him. Sally Donovan glared back at her former superior menacingly. As if it wasn't bad enough she was being told what to do again, it was in front of Anderson AND the orders were coming from an underling.

"I'm not a Holmes, before you ask Donovan. I know you were about to. My name is Sophia Midnight." she stated, without even looking away from Dante purring on her lap.

John and Lestrade's badly concealed chuckles told her Donovan was shocked, as well as Anderson who she could see out of the corner of her eye. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, nothing coming out, giving the appearance of a fish out of water trying to breathe.

"How did..."  
"How did I know you were going to ask?" Sophia finished, Donovan was too shocked to do so herself, she could only nod. Sophia lifted her head up to face Donovan, revealing her wicked smile to the group assembled in the room.

"I knew you were going to ask that question because it was obvious. That and the look you and Lestrade exchanged, deciding which one of you would start speaking first. You still respect each other, even though you took Lestrade's job. The fact that you allow him to take control in this situation tells me that you don't actually know how to deal with this situation." she paused to take a breath. John tried not to grin as he listened to Sophia's deductions. "After all, it is a well known fact that you never liked Sherlock. That was because he was smarter than you, which made you scared of him because it meant you weren't the only one that could belittle people. You were threatened by his genius and now your face is losing its colour. You realise that I am a lot like him and even though I am only 12 years old you're scared of me too." Sophia finished and turned her attention back to Dante, leaving the rest of the room stunned. Concealed behind her long hair was a grin that would rival the Joker's.

"You were saying?" John said to Lestrade, a mischievous grin on his face.  
"Oh all right then. I give in." Lestrade replied. He leaned past Sophia and handed a ten pound note to John, who was sitting looking smug.

It was Sophia's turn to look shocked, she looked up and looked between the two men.  
"I made a bet with John that you wouldn't be able to shock Sally into silence." Lestrade explained. "He said you would, and he was right." Sophia grinned again when she heard the hint of humour in the detective's voice.

"YOU WHAT!" Sally screeched. This caused Sophia to break into a laugh. Dante jumped when she squeaked, landing on the floor with all of his fur standing on end. This made Lestrade laugh as he watched the kitten narrow its eyes and hiss at him before turning and stalking away.

John just took this all in, grinning like a kid at Christmas. He hadn't had this much fun for over a year, especially not at Donovan's expense. He heard Mrs Hudson coming up the stairs to find the source of the commotion.

She opened the door to find Sophia and Lestrade hysterical, John chuckling away quietly. Then there was Sally Donovan, she was stood in the middle of the room with absolute rage obvious on her face. She shuffled into the room and almost bumped into Anderson, who was standing shellshocked.

Mrs Hudson smiled. The only thing missing was the tall detective with black curly hair and this scene would have been complete.

A key was inserted into the lock of the front door and the group listened to it eagerly, the laughter having subsided, all but Sophia knew who it was. The door opened and a voice could be heard as the door closed.  
"Doc, Mrs Hudson, where are you?"  
"Up here Ophelia." John shouted to the voice. Footsteps could be heard moving up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Several seconds later a purple haired teenager came through the door and joined the group. She smiled as she looked around the room, seeing the remains of the commotion. She stopped smiling at the sight of Sophia, who froze under the inspection of Sherlock's niece.

There was silence as the two girls studied each other, both deducing the others' identity.

"Science fair girl. The only other person we know of that could create this sort of commotion and that fits the description my uncle gave."

"Sophia Midnight." the teen in question added and Ophelia grinned triumphantly.

"Ophelia Holmes. Mycroft Holmes' eldest daughter, who spends a lot of your time here, coming here to dye your hair occasionally." Sophia stopped as Ophelia smiled and nodded.

"You're pretty good at that. Are you sure you're not a Holmes?" Sally asked her, breaking the silence.

"Yes" Sophia replied, looking around the room as she heard two other people utter the same reply. She found John sitting with his head in his hands despairingly and Ophelia wearing the same exasperated expression that John was hiding.

"Are you sure about that?" Donovan asked. She nodded towards Anderson, who pulled a mound of black material out of a bag he had brought with him. All eyes focused on it but Sophia's. She knew precisely what it was, causing her to turn bright red.

Donovan smiled as the material unfolded into a long black coat.  
"Oh God." Ophelia muttered when she saw the resemblance between the coat in Anderson's hand and the one that her uncle wore. She turned to stare at Sophia.

"Why do you have a coat like that?" Lestrade asked, beating a stunned Ophelia to it. Sophia didn't answer for a moment, she just felt around in her case. She found the material she was looking for and pulled out the dark purple scarf that she always wore with the coat.

Sophia went a deeper shade of red as all eyes turned to her.  
"After I revealed my ability to deduce at the science competition, which seems to have earned me a nickname here, I got a nickname at school. My friends and a fair few of the teachers felt a little threatened, so they got it for me as a present. It was really a pay-off so I wouldn't talk about the affairs and relationships between them. The nature of the 'gift' pretty much explains the nickname."

Ophelia's laugh told Sophia that she'd worked it out, causing her face to go from deep red to almost match Ophelia's hair.

"They called you 'Sherlock girl'. Really?" she spluttered. Sophia nodded and Ophelia burst into laughter again.

"I only just managed to persuade them not to get the hat." Sophia muttered, embarrassed. John's eyebrows rose and he started laughing too, then Mrs Hudson's chuckle could be heard behind Sophia.

"Come on Lestrade, think of the infamous photograph someone took of Sherlock as we finished a case." John said, noticing Lestrade's confused expression. Ophelia could practically see the cogs turning inside Lestrade's head as he thought about it.

"The photograph with the deerstalker..." he smiled as John nodded. Lestrade's smile got even wider as Sophia stood up. She walked towards Anderson with purpose; Anderson shrank away from her and held her coat out at arm's length.

She pulled the coat out of his hand quickly, pulling it close to her chest. She pulled the scarf out from behind the coat and placed it round her neck, fastening it with ease. She put the coat out in front of her, wincing as she slipped her broken arm into the sleeve. She put her other arm into the coat and fastened it.

Everyone was staring again. She sat back down on the sofa and looked at the floor, playing with her hair absentmindedly.

Sally was standing perfectly still, completely shocked by what she had seen. iShe had put the coat on as if it was nothing, it had to point to her heritage, that was the only way you became as good as he had been. Unless.../i

She turned to John; the ex-army doctor was currently leaning back in his armchair, obviously thinking.  
"Did you teach her how to do that?" she asked him. He didn't respond.

"No. I've always been able to do it." Sophia answered for him. "I developed it on my own, using the behaviour of my parents and friends to collect data. Then I started to apply it." Sally quickly turned her cursing into a growl, just because Lestrade was in the room.

Behind her cursing Sally Donovan's mind was working. iHow can she have the natural talent for it if she wasn't related? How does she know she isn't related in the first place...?/i  
Sally turned and ran out of the door without saying another word, Anderson following her like a little puppy.

"What just happened?" Lestrade asked as he heard the front door close behind them. Sophia and Ophelia shrugged, looking as confused as he was. Mrs Hudson and John were thinking.

Lestrade sighed and got to his feet.  
"I guess I better go and find out then. We'll probably be back tomorrow to talk again." Sophia gave him a small nod in reply, looking slightly resigned and a little confused still. Lestrade muttered something about his 'idiot' co-workers as he walked out of the room, John pretended not to hear.

Sophia relaxed as she heard the front door shut again; she leaned back in her seat and sighed. Dante saw the familiar coat and went back over to Sophia, climbing onto the back of the sofa to sit on her shoulder.  
"You're back again then" she muttered, poking the kitten's nose. Dante glared at the finger for a moment before he licked it, at which point it moved to tickle him behind the ear.

"He's not biting you" John stated.  
"No, he came right up to me and sat on my knee. I take it from your reaction that isn't normal." Sophia replied, pulling the kitten onto her knee and playing with it.

"He was biting and scratching everyone he could get his paws on when he first came." Ophelia told her. She took Lestrade's space on the sofa and Dante stood up and sniffed her incoming hand.

"Ow!" she yelled, pulling her hand away quickly. "It appears he's back in the habit of it too" Ophelia glared at the kitten on Sophia's knees, who she could swear was grinning smugly. Sophia put her hand in front of Dante and he licked it, snuggling up to it.

Ophelia's jaw dropped.

Sophia chuckled as Dante left her hand alone and started to play with a clump of hair that had come loose from behind her ear.

John started thinking again. The last time Dante had been like this was with Sherlock. Mycroft had insisted all of the family be present at the Holmes Christmas dinner. They tried to avoid Holmes House and Sherlock's crazy relatives at all costs, so Mycroft sent his goons to bring Sherlock. Most of the goons had fled and, to this day, are scared of the grey Bengal cat.

"What does he think he's protecting you from?" John asked Sophia.  
"I honestly don't know. Why do you think he is anyway?"  
"Because last time he tried to bite anyone was when some of Mycroft's goons came to drag him to the Holmes Christmas dinner." John shuddered, remembering the event four years ago.

"What do you think I need protection from Dante?" Sophia asked the kitten. It blinked at her in response and her eyebrows rose. "Come on then, let's sort that out now."  
She placed Dante on the floor and pulled her coat off, folding it neatly and placing it on top of her case, the scarf followed. Sophia walked to the bathroom, Dante following closely.

John looked at Ophelia questioningly, she shrugged. She looked to Mrs Hudson in the kitchen.  
"I don't know dear, but I think you'll find out." Mrs Hudson said.

As Mrs Hudson predicted, Sophia walked back into the room a moment later, rubbing her eyes.

"I thought your eyes were brown." Ophelia stated.

"They were, past tense." Sophia replied. She walked over to the sofa and took her seat once more. She turned to face Ophelia so that the teen could see her real eye colour.

"Why did you hide it?" she asked, in awe at the pale blue eyes she now saw. She traced the lime green swirl pattern in the pale blue with her eyes until it reached the pupils.

"Too distinctive. Too obvious" Sophia replied, the last word almost a growl.

"Not by choice then" Ophelia got no answer as John interrupted.

"What do you mean?"  
Sophia turned to him, showing him the true colour that had been hidden behind the coloured contact lenses.

"Your dad?" he questioned. Sophia nodded slowly, before hiding her eyes beneath her fringe.

"What have I missed?" Ophelia asked, looking between Sophia's embarrassed face and John's sympathetic one. Sophia looked at John pleadingly, not wanting to explain it twice. John turned to Ophelia and explained.

"How do you cope with that?" Ophelia asked. Sophia looked up at her. Ophelia tried to ignore the water that was visibly pooling at the corners of Sophia's eyes, but she couldn't. Ophelia watched as a tear ran down Sophia's cheek, before pulling her into a hug.

"You don't cope with it" Sophia muttered into Ophelia's shoulder. "You can try all you want, but you don't cope with it."  
Ophelia resisted the urge to laugh at John.

"Can you stop staring please?" Sophia mumbled. Ophelia chuckled as John rolled his eyes, now used to the random comments and deductions Sherlock used to make without looking.

"Sorry about that" she said, pulling away from Ophelia and drying her eyes on her sleeve.

The subject of family remained untouched for the rest of the afternoon, which was filled with idle chatter and explanations. Sophia cooked a sweet rice dish for dinner. Ophelia grabbed seconds, the small amount that remained after Mrs Hudson had filled a plate was devoured by Dante, who licked his nose afterwards and looked to Sophia for more.

Sophia's attempt to clear away afterwards was thwarted by Mrs Hudson, who said that she shouldn't have cooked with her arm in that shape, berating John for not taking her to the hospital earlier. John argued that she had been through enough earlier and that if he took her to the hospital she might have been recognised by one of Moriarty's minions, which in turn would cause Moriarty to learn that she wasn't dead and try to kill her again.

At this Mrs Hudson nodded in understanding, patting Sophia on the shoulder as she walked past. As soon as she was out of sight Mrs Hudson allowed a grin to spread over her face. She hadn't seen the doctor this happy for a while, seeing him like this made her think of the absent half of the duo, so she shook her head and carried on drying the dishes.

Several hours later Ophelia jumped up suddenly, saying her goodbyes as she ran out of the door to catch the bus to a charity concert she was performing in tonight with the rest of the Baker Street Irregulars.

Sophia asked for an explanation with raised eyebrows after the purple-haired teen had left. So John had explained it to her, only to realise that she had fallen asleep as he had been speaking.

He smiled and placed a pillow under her head from the pile Mrs Hudson had brought earlier. He pulled a blanket off the top of the pile and draped it over her, only to have her hand latch onto his wrist as he pulled away.

He tried to pry her hand open slowly, which only made her grip his wrist harder. John frowned and looked at the girl closely, noting the signs of nightmares he knew all too well. He could guess that she would be falling endlessly, looking for something to hold onto, which is why she wouldn't release his wrist.

So John sighed and made a decision that he realised he would probably regret. He shook Sophia's shoulder to wake her up, causing Sophia to sit upright instantly.  
"What..." she said as she came out of the nightmare. Then she woke up properly and released her grip on John's wrist, mumbling her apologies as she tried to stifle a yawn.  
"Alright you, go and get changed and whatever before you fall asleep again" Sophia looked at the doctor and nodded, knowing he would keep giving her orders until she gave in.

John smiled as she stumbled out of the room, dragging her case behind her. He rigged a bed for her as he heard the shower start, realising for the first time all afternoon how nice it was to have someone else in the flat.

Sophia walked back into the room twenty minutes later to find John in his armchair with a cup of tea in his hand and he looked at her. She smiled at John and he stared at the spirals in her eyes. She looked to him with raised eyebrows and smirked, before turning to the sofa.

"Apples?" John asked, frowning at the bizarre smell that followed her as she turned.

"Yeah, old habit" Sophia muttered. She lifted her ponytail of wet hair above her head and separated it into three sections, expertly twisting her hands to plait it above her head as John watched.

"What? My mum wasn't exactly around to do it for me!" Sophia exclaimed as she realised John was watching her. She yawned straight afterwards and John chuckled as he pushed himself out of his chair.

"With that I'll say goodnight Sophia. Try and sleep well." he told her as he wandered into the kitchen to put another empty mug by the sink.

"Goodnight, and thank you" Sophia replied as John walked out of the room. He paused in the doorway and turned back to her.

"For what?" he questioned and Sophia turned to him.

"For catching me, for letting me stay here." she told him before she crossed the room and hugged him.

"For everything." she finished as she pulled away, walking over to the sofa and lying down. She pulled the blankets over her as John switched off the light for her, walking to his bedroom with a small smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Several hours later Sophia woke up again, shaking from the nightmare. She looked around the room and relaxed, realising that her nightmare wasn't real.

She grabbed her phone and flipped it open, blinking at the screen as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. She sighed as she saw that it was three o'clock in the morning, wondering how she was supposed to sleep for another few hours without the nightmare returning.

She wondered if her friends would still be awake, then she remembered they were partying. They would all be drunk, or high, or both.

iNot all of them though.../i

She opened her contacts and pressed the call button when she found the one she was looking for, holding it to her ear and hoping that her friend would hear it. Sophia almost dropped her phone as Eve answered it, the loud party music making hard for her voice to be heard. A nearly audible "hold on" was heard and the loud music became quieter and sliding doors were heard.

"Sorry, bloody idiots heard my phone go off and turned the music up louder"  
"I'm not surprised. You having fun there Eve?" Sophia could picture her friend and fellow genius raising her eyebrows at the phone as if to say 'are you kidding me?'

"What do you think?" Eve replied, realising that Sophia couldn't see her raised eyebrows but knowing that she could predict it. "You're lucky you weren't invited to this freak show"  
Sophia snorted quietly  
"You've got no idea how much I'd like to be there right now"

Eve didn't reply for several minutes, analysing everything her friend said and the way she said it. The solution dawned on her and she asked the question.  
"We were right, weren't we?"

Sophia's mumbled "yes" was only just heard by the genius at the party, but what she did hear were a few broken sobs. Then she realised something must have happened, something that would cause her friend -who she had seen shrug off every insult she had ever heard- to break down in tears.

"What did he do to you?" Eve asked. She knew her friend could hear it because she had heard the shift in sound as it had been put on loudspeaker, which she had also noted had been accompanied by a shuffling noise.

"He pushed her off the roof of St Bart's hospital." a male voice answered. Eve heard a small gasp from the other end of the phone at the sound of the voice, along with the sound of a door sliding over carpet and hitting something.

"I'm judging by the music that came through when the call first connected that you're one of her friends at the party she wasn't invited to." the voice continued. Eve's rather irritated reply was cut off as she heard her friend's voice.  
"Was that how long you were listening John?"

Eve gawped at her phone, almost dropping it. She decided to put it on loudspeaker and put it on the table. Then she started pacing around the circular table she had placed her phone on, piecing it together in her head.

John, John Watson? No that wasn't possible, he hadn't talked to anyone since Sherlock's death, and he had even stopped updating his blog according to Sophia. But then the logical part of her brain kicked in. If they had been right and the riddle man had been Moriarty then it would make sense, St Bart's was a symbolic building for everyone who knew about Sherlock and Moriarty. So if he had pushed her off the roof then... Wait a minute, if he had pushed her off the roof...

"Yes, Dr Watson, I am a friend at the party she wasn't invited to." Eve answered. She paused as Sophia's phone was picked up off the table it had momentarily been placed on and brought closer to the voices, then she continued.  
"If she was pushed off the roof how can she..." Eve tailed off and Sophia smiled. Apparently her friend wasn't drunk and was piecing things together as she spoke.

The doctor sat beside Sophia on the sofa frowned.  
"Eve is like me, she thinks and deduces, then all the pieces slot into place when there is enough data." Sophia explained, smiling even wider as his eyebrows almost met his hairline.  
"The only reason I was invited to this party was because I don't show it as often, or if I do it's when these popular idiots aren't around." Eve added, kicking the second door closed that joined the kitchen and the living room/party room/bomb-site so that none of the 'popular idiots' could hear any more of the conversation.

Eve continued.  
"However the little show-off, which I presume is sitting beside you, decided to blow her lid and show everyone what she can do."  
Sophia smirked at the phone in her hand.  
"Like you don't show off too" she retorted.  
"Fine, point tak..." Eve paused as the door was opened and one of the 'popular idiots' came in.

"What are you doing? Are you still on the phone?" a high pitched voice asked Eve, unaware the phone was on speaker and lying on the table.  
"Yes, as a matter of fact she is" Sophia said, voice filled with hatred. "Why don't you go back to getting drunk Cassie?"  
There was a stammering noise from the other end of the phone and a quiet chuckle which Sophia recognised as Eve's. Sophia smiled at the confused looking John, which Eve picked up even though she couldn't see.

"World class bitch to anyone with more than five brain cells" Eve and Sophia said in unison. Sophia turned the volume up as more voices appeared in the background, shouting for Cassie.  
"It's okay guys, I'm on my way back now" Cassie shouted. "We'll leave Eve to talk to the freak in London."

John finally spoke up.  
"Who's the freak in this conversation?" he asked. Sophia smiled at him and Eve dissolved into laughter.

"Who the hell are you?" Cassie asked the previously unheard voice. Sophia went into silent hysterics next to the doctor, whose eyebrows had risen at the disrespectful tone.  
"John Watson" he replied, only just managing to keep his voice level.

"The guy who lived with the other freak" Sophia recognised Lily's voice as she asked the question. Lily continued, undisturbed by the laser glare she was getting from Eve. "The one who jumped off that building in London about a year ago"  
"What was his name? Sherlock was it?" Cassie asked, knowing she was annoying the two freaks from her class.

Little did she know she had pissed off the ex-army doctor in the process. He decided to keep his voice calm, but he couldn't hide the anger from the two geniuses.  
"Eve, since I'm not there can you describe the two idiots who just said that please?" he said.

Eve stopped giving them a laser glare and realised that the doctor felt the same way about that statement as she did, so she began to describe the two girls stood in the doorway.

"Both tall, Cassie's hair is dyed bright blue because she thinks it makes her look cool, but instead it just makes her look stupid. Lily's hair is blond with streaks the same colour as Cassie's..." Eve now had a wicked grin as the two girls glared at her as if they were trying to set her on fire, this affected her voice in a way only Sophia and John noticed. "Both are wearing insultingly bright dresses that only just cover their underwear, accompanied by oddly coloured shoes in the same offensive shades. That enough for you Dr Watson?"

Sophia grinned on the other end of the phone, watching as John absorbed the information. He looked towards the phone in Sophia's hand, and then to Sophia. She grinned evilly and nodded to the phone.

"That was more than enough, thank you Eve." Eve on the other end of the phone nodded to it and grinned evilly at the two girls in the doorway, who were still trying to set her on fire with their eyes. She recognised the tone of the doctor's voice, the one that spoke of a formed theory that was about to be explained.

There was a long pause, then John Watson began.  
"The brightly coloured hair shows that you want attention, you want to break out of the mould of the rest of the school population. It's so brightly coloured because the young girl sitting beside me and Eve stick out so much that you need more attention, so you needed a brighter colour. This is also the reason that your clothes are so brightly coloured, you want to get the attention that you think you deserve, knowing that just acting stupidly makes you go unnoticed. This suggests that you were both ignored as young children, so you felt the need to take charge and be noticed as soon as you entered high school..."

"You're slightly wrong there" Eve interrupted, so John didn't continue so Eve could have fun pulling them apart by pointing out where he'd gone wrong.  
"But only because we have the experience" Sophia pointed out "Go on Eve"

"You've been trying to get attention since year 5, which I know for a fact is when your parents split up Cassie, which made you even worse. It's also when I moved schools, becoming the weird new girl, taking the attention that you craved so much."  
"Which, by the way, she didn't even want" Sophia added.  
"That's when you decided to get worse, trying so desperately to become popular. You haven't stopped yet. Which is why you organised this infernal party to try and boost your popularity, not inviting Sophia so that she wouldn't take the attention from you..."  
"Which almost got her killed" John finished.

This must have been the final straw for the girls as footsteps were heard walking out of the room at, from what John could hear before the door closed again, quite a fast pace.

"Well that showed them" Sophia said, relieved. "Thank you John" she said as she attempted to hug him, only for her to wince as she caught her arm. John smirked and patted her on the shoulder as she pulled away, listening to the voices on the other end if the phone and the music ceasing.

"Uh-oh, looks like we're in trouble" Eve muttered, picking the phone up off the table and looking for her nearest exit. "I'm going to phone you guys back in a bit okay, I'm just going to make my escape before I get into trouble with Cassie's mum"

Eve ended the call and tucked the phone in her pocket, using the metal bin to get onto the kitchen bench and through the open kitchen window, cursing as her hair got caught on the latch. She pulled it free just in time for Cassie to open the kitchen door in order to show her mother where Eve had been and falsely accuse her of starting the party.

She got as close to her house as she could before she went back to her phone, dialling Sophia's number as she let herself in. She went straight into the lounge and locked the doors, this room being soundproofed because the piano was in here and her mum occasionally tried to play it when she couldn't sleep.

"I'm back! Did you miss me?" she asked as Sophia answered. The phone was placed on loudspeaker and Eve heard Sophia chuckling.

"Here you go" John muttered as he handed Sophia a cup of tea.

"Tea at this hour? Are you two on UK time?" Eve inquired as she sat on the piano stool.

"Why? What time is it?" John asked as he stifled a yawn.

"Go back to sleep if you want, I'll be fine" Sophia told him.

"No you won't" Eve and John said at the same time. Sophia laughed at John looked to the phone, as surprised as she could predict Eve was.

"I'd listen to him Soph; he's haunted by nightmares as much as you will be." Eve stated, only to be met by laughter.

"In fact" Eve continued, "I can help you both sleep." Sophia stopped laughing and became instantly suspicious as she recognised Eve's tone.

Sophia and John listened as Eve moved her phone onto the top of the piano and began to look through the sheet music sitting nearby.  
"On The Beautiful Blue Danube" caught her eye, the one that had been performed by André Rieu in Australia, but Eve had been unfortunate to miss it. Never the less, she began to play the enamouring music piece that had been made famous by the violin, and smiled as the notes rolled from the piano to be heard by the two recipients on the end of the phone.

Each chillingly beautiful note unknowingly sent Sophia into a deeper slumber, and Eve absent-mindedly carried on playing. When she finished, there was silence on the end of the phone.  
"How did I do?" She asked as tension filled the air.

"That was great, but it worked a bit too well at being relaxing." John said.

"Why, what so you mean?" Eve asked in a moment of idiotic ignorance, but she finally clicked as John spoke.

"Sophia is asleep." He said, and Eve smiled.

"How asleep?"

"Very asleep. And lying on me." John said, and Eve suppressed a smirk. "Look, I'll have to go now, sorry, but be in touch." John said, and Eve had barely enough time to say goodbye before the phone was cut off. Silence around her, she lightly pressed her fingers on the piano keys and began to play "Time To Say Goodbye".

John cursed as Sophia's phone dropped on the floor, but he didn't dare move in case he woke Sophia. Realising there was no way to move Sophia without waking her from what appeared to be a peaceful sleep; he just leaned back and let his eyes slip closed.

~~~~~~several hours later~~~~~~ 

Mrs Hudson climbed the stairs to 221B to look in on Sophia, bit found the door open and the light on when she got to the top. She walked into the room and found that she couldn't stop herself smiling.

John and Sophia were leaned back on the sofa, as if they had fallen asleep while they had been sitting there. As she went to grab her camera, something shining on the floor caught her eye. The landlady wandered over, curious, and picked the object off the floor.

She realised that it was Sophia's phone and placed it by the two empty teacups on the coffee table and headed downstairs. She found her camera and climbed back up the stairs as quietly as she could, only to find that the pair on the sofa had moved. Sophia's head was resting on John's chest with her arm thrown across his stomach while John's arm was around Sophia, keeping her from falling off the sofa.

Mrs Hudson took a quick picture and got out of the room as quickly as she began to chuckle, pausing in the door to her flat as there was a knock at the front door. She shuffled over and opened it to see the calm mask of Mycroft Holmes.

"Morning Mrs Hudson." he said as he walked past her and up the stairs. Mrs Hudson just smiled and closed the door again and continued to 221A, pausing by the door to 221C. She looked at it and a thought struck her, looking back to the camera in her hand as a plot formed that would benefit everyone.

Mycroft let a small smile form as he observed the pair sleeping on the sofa. He turned his attention from them as Sophia's phone beeped on the table, the screen lighting up to explain that it was running out of battery, but Mycroft waited until the warning vanished and looked at the call log that was open on the screen, showing the late night phone call from Eve that led to this situation.

Sophia stirred and he looked to the girl, learning everything he needed to know. Her long hair spread over John's chest showing that her sleep was restless and she kept moving, John's arm around her showing that he was protective of her, which Mycroft found odd considering that he'd only met her yesterday.

Sophia muttered something in her sleep that Mycroft couldn't understand, but John obviously had as he pulled her closer and she smiled.

Mycroft continued to think, noting everything that told him that she was a member of the Midnight family, but he knew he had to see her eyes to be certain.

"What do you want Mycroft?" John muttered, pulling Mycroft out of his thoughts.

"I've come to see her. The girl who brought Moriarty to the surface." Mycroft answered, nodding to Sophia. On cue Sophia opened her eyes, slowly at first, but they snapped open and she sat up as she saw Mycroft.

She instinctively shuffled closer to John as she saw Mycroft studying her and John put his arm around her again as she shied away from the Holmes brother.

"This is the reason you yanked my phone battery out last night, Sophia, this is Mycroft Holmes." John explained. Sophia looked at Mycroft with interest, studying him as much as he was studying her.

Mycroft was busy looking at Sophia's eyes, wondering if John would be able to work out what they truly meant. He was distracted from his thoughts once again as his phone beeped in his pocket.

With a nod to John, Mycroft walked back out of the flat and down the stairs, right out if the front door and into the black car waiting to take him to Scotland Yard to sort out a little issue he had just been informed of.

Sophia turned to John with raised eyebrows, becoming confused when she found him grinning.

"What?" he asked, still grinning. "He was here to talk to you and from what he said; I can make the educated guess that he was going to ask you to be bait to draw Moriarty as again." Sophia's eyes blew wide and she shook her head.

"No. I'm not doing that." she stated adamantly, still shaking her head.

"I would never ask you to, I know just how terrifies you are. So does Mycroft actually, he just doesn't have a caring bone in his body..." John tailed off there and Sophia smirked.

"Because he didn't help his own brother out" Sophia ventured and John nodded.

"And now he knows that you can draw Moriarty out and will do anything to get to him, even if it means that you'll get hurt." John finished. Sophia looked concerned for a moment, but it vanished as he phone beeped.

She picked it up from beside the empty teacups and read the text she'd just received from an unknown number.

i'Do you know who you really are? Why you can do what you can?'/i

Sophia frowned at the text, leaving it with John as she pushed herself off the seat to get dressed for another day in London.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Sophia was ready, Lestrade was sitting on the sofa waiting to talk to her.

"Good morning" she said as she sat down beside him. The sound of a door closing caught her attention and John walked back in sat in his armchair.

Lestrade's eyebrows rose at the sight of John's striped jumper and Sophia tried not to chuckle along with John.

"So, how did you meet Moriarty?" Lestrade inquired. Sophia's chuckling stopped instantly as she became serious, closing her eyes as she focussed.

"Well Lestrade, I first met him..." Sophia began her explanation.

"Stupid computer! I need this information!" Sally Donovan screeched; her hand curling into a fist which landed on the table. Sally had spent the past day using a few favours in an attempt to access some information, but she was still trying to get in.

That's when Mycroft Holmes strode casually into her office.

"Why are you trying to access classified information?" he asked as he walked over to the computer, his umbrella tapping against the desk.

"I'm trying to find out how that girl is so much like the f-" Sally paused as she remembered who she was talking to, "your brother" she finished.

"Nicely recovered" Mycroft muttered. He turned his attention from the computer to Donovan.

"If I give you the information, can I trust that you will not disclose it to anyone?" Mycroft asked, his tone adding the i'or there will be dire consequences'/i to the end of his question for him. Sally Donovan just nodded quickly and Mycroft quickly typed in the bypass code.

"No-one must know you have this information, and if someone does discover this information it will cost your career." Mycroft told her as he walked back out of Sally's office, leaving her with the access to the information that would explain everything. Mycroft nodded to Lestrade as he climbed back into his black car, closing the door as and heading back to Baker Street, sure that there would be no interruptions this time.

John muttered something into his tea as the black car pulled up outside and Sophia's eyebrows arched in curiosity. Mrs Hudson opened the door and Mycroft acknowledged her with a nod before heading up the stairs to finish his conversation he had tried to start earlier.

"If you're here to get Sophia to draw Moriarty out, turn around and walk away now Mycroft" John stated as Mycroft walked in.

"You're better than I give you credit for John, did you learn all of that this morning? Oh, and thank you for the name" John nodded to answer Mycroft's question, but he scowled as Mycroft turned to Sophia.

"You're taking a bit of a risk aren't you Mr Holmes? Leaving the government to run itself to talk to me?" Sophia asked, smirking deviously as John grinned at her.

"Well, talking to the young girl who brought one of London's most notorious killers and tormentors to the surface is important, and so something I have to do personally" Mycroft replied, wiping Sophia's devious grin away.

"I won't do it. I won't draw Moriarty out for you." Sophia told him. Mycroft's arched an eyebrow and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as he realised how much she was like his brother.

"You're the only way we can draw him out; you don't have much of a choice."

"She has plenty of choice Mycroft and you know it." John interrupted and Mycroft sighed.

"And you've become rather attached to her considering you only met yesterday!" Mycroft snapped.

"Because I feel like she's family. I honestly don't know if you know anything about that feeling Mycroft, because you could have helped your own brother out of trouble and you didn't! Instead he faced Moriarty alone and he's dead and I'm not letting you be the cause if Sophia's death just because you want to finish what your brother DIED doing!" John snapped back, leaving Mycroft rather more stunned than he would admit. Mycroft recovered and nodded to Sophia, who was still glaring at him, and to John before walking back out of 221 Baker Street for the second time that day.

Sophia turned back to John after the door closed, expecting to find him grumpy, but instead she found John grinning.

"That got rid of him" John muttered, still grinning as he looked to Sophia. Sophia couldn't help but grin too, which soon became a laugh as she realised that had been the point all along. She stopped laughing abruptly as something occurred to her.

"How much of that conversation was a lie?" she turned to face John and his grin became a smirk.

"Not a lot of it actually, but I think I know what you're wondering about and I can say that I was telling the truth" John answered, leaving Sophia staring at him.

"You reall-" Sophia started and John just nodded.


End file.
